As agritech shifts from innovation to real-world application, the Bay of Plenty is emerging as a key hub for adoption, scale and collaboration. Tauranga is set to host a national conversation on what comes next at this month’s Agritech Unleashed.

New Zealand’s agritech sector continues to build real momentum. Agritech remains one of the country’s fastest-growing technology sectors, and what stands out is not just the pace of innovation, but the way it is being applied in practical, commercially relevant ways across our farms, orchards, supply chains and export markets. With growth comes opportunity and changing relationships.

Across our ecosystem, we are seeing a stronger focus on adoption, integration and scale. The conversation is shifting from what technology can do in isolation, to how it connects with the people, data, systems and decisions that drive value for farmers and growers. This is a sign of a maturing sector, one that is increasingly confident, collaborative and ready to make a bigger contribution to New Zealand’s primary industries and economy.

The evidence is showing up in the Bay of Plenty. The Bioeconomy Science Institute and the University of Waikato are science and innovation enablers working alongside firms to turn research capability into commercial impact:

• Rush Digital, now the owner of Cucumber, builds digital ecosystems that connect growers, processors and technology providers.
• Yamaha Agriculture designs technology used on farms and in orchards worldwide and demonstrates what a genuine global partnership looks like in practice.
• Bluelab has grown into a global instrumentation business from its Tauranga base.
• Trimax pairs local and global manufacturing with investment and technology development to reach international markets.
• AgriSea harnesses seaweed into biological products sold around the world.  
• GPSit are farm and orchard mapping experts, helping people manage their land more effectively.

Horticulture technology alone spans a long and growing list of New Zealand companies, among them Agovor, Hectre, Landkind, HortPlus, H2Ortigator, Cropsy, CropX, BioLumic, Biotelliga, FrostBoss, Metris, Radfords, Dataphyll, Onside and Seedspider. That range is itself a signal of the level of activity already underway in New Zealand hort tech, and how much room remains for further activity, as well as for new relationships between tech products and services.

This month AgriTechNZ’s Agritech Unleashed series lands in Tauranga, one of the country’s most important growing regions, to explore how AI, data and automation are enabling practical, real-world autonomy in horticulture.

The Bay of Plenty is a produce powerhouse, with major kiwifruit and avocado industries, deep grower expertise, and a strong base for agritech development, adoption and scale. The event will bring together growers, founders, researchers, investors, industry leaders and agritech companies to examine how technology is applied where it matters most: in the field, across supply chains, and within the systems that support the primary sector.

The programme will explore three connected themes:

• Think globally: exploring the partnerships and market pathways that help New Zealand agritech companies scale internationally.
• Start with the customer: hearing directly from growers about the operational challenges, adoption decisions and outcomes that matter.
• Use technology to solve the right problems: examining horticulture data ecosystems, interoperability, vision AI, automation and the technology stacks that support better decisions.

Hosted at the University of Waikato’s Tauranga Campus, the full-day event will spotlight the Bay of Plenty’s distinctive agritech ecosystem and connect regional capability to a wider national and global conversation. The day will look beyond technology for technology’s sake. It will focus on the conditions that turn a promising solution into a valuable, everyday tool: trusted relationships, market readiness, clear use cases and the confidence to scale.

The Bay of Plenty region combines production capability, export connections, research and education, and proximity to major primary-sector businesses. Together, those assets create a strong environment for practical innovation and clearer pathways from idea to adoption. Growers and producers are central to the ecosystem. Their operational realities should shape product development, adoption decisions and measures of success. In turn, innovators need honest feedback, access to market and the patience to build trust. Investors, researchers and established businesses each have a role in helping the best ideas move from testing to commercial impact.

This is where the event’s three themes come together. International growth depends on strong partnerships and credible market pathways. Customer-led innovation depends on listening closely to the people using technology. And better use of data, automation and AI depends on solving specific problems with systems that work together.

Agritech Unleashed Tauranga is an opportunity to hear practical perspectives, meet potential collaborators and see how regional expertise can contribute to a stronger national sector. It is also a chance to consider what the next phase of horticultural innovation requires: technology that is useful, connected and capable of delivering value in real operating environments.

New Zealand’s agritech future will be shaped by the quality of the relationships between technology developers and users, and by the ability to take locally proven solutions to global markets. Tauranga’s horticultural strengths make it an important place to have that conversation.

Join AgriTech New Zealand in Tauranga on Tuesday 25 August and help shape the next phase of New Zealand agritech.

Register for Agritech Unleashed Tauranga 2026.